It is no longer adequate – or accurate – to say business simply has to create value for shareholders. This year’s Aspen Faculty Pioneer winners and finalists were selected because they require students to wrestle with broad questions about the primary responsibilities of business.

Early case studies of how corporations in the U.S. responded to employees with HIV/ AIDS in the 1980s focused on learning from individual cases, updating specific employee benefits, and generally developing responsible and voluntary human resource management practices (for example, the case of Levi Straus in San Francisco).

At its core, energy efficiency is about doing more with less. In times of a down economy and uncertain energy prices, the importance of saving energy seems clear; over the long term, however, how does a focus on energy efficiency make sense for business? Business is both uniquely suited to address the problems of energy efficiency and to reap the potential rewards of those solutions, if it is able to meld social and profit constraints into a plan for an innovative energy future. The purpose of this Module is to discuss energy efficiency as a strategic solution rather than a defensive reaction, and to present ways to manage challenges and make the most of opportunities at this intersection of business and society.

This case discusses the post-privatization performance of the Manila Water Company in Manila, and the positive effects their emphasis on good corporate governance and sustainable development had on the city's residents, many of whom live in poverty.

At its core, energy efficiency is about doing more with less. In times of a down economy and uncertain energy prices, the importance of saving energy seems clear; over the long term, however, how does a focus on energy efficiency make sense for business? Business is both uniquely suited to address the problems of energy efficiency and to reap the potential rewards of those solutions, if it is able to meld social and profit constraints into a plan for an innovative energy future. The purpose of this Module is to discuss energy efficiency as a strategic solution rather than a defensive reaction, and to present ways to manage challenges and make the most of opportunities at this intersection of business and society.